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Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Elements of Act One - HARRY POTTER story breakdown

I’ve been threatening to do this for a long time: post story breakdowns so that you can see how all these story elements that we’ve been talking about work in different movies. This is also what I’ve been encouraging you to do with your own master lists of films and books.

I'm going to start by breaking down the first Harry Potter movie because it's often a lot easier to identify these elements in a fantasy. But I am going to try doing just the first act and then I’ll switch over to CHINATOWN, a completely different type and style of story, so that you can compare and contrast how the storytellers handle the same story elements, and then to complete the genre whiplash I’ll break down Act One of ROMANCING THE STONE

And if you haven’t made your own master list yet, then I really encourage you to do that, too.

If you want to follow along with this exercise as if this were an actual class, get yourself a DVD of HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE, then watch the first act, sequence by sequence, and stop and start where I tell you to. Look for my instructions below in italics.

Let’s get going.

Put your DVD in and watch the first four minutes of the film. Pause at the cut from baby Harry to eleven-year old Harry, and then read my notes. Go back and look at it again, if you want!
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE

Screenplay by Steve Kloves
Based on the book by J.K. Rowling
Directed by Chris Columbus
Produced by David Heyman

Running time: 159 minutes

ACT ONE

Note the running time of 2 hours and
39 minutes. This means we’re going to have some extra sequences. There are
three in Act I, and three in Act II, Part 1. And Act I starts with a Prologue.
It must be noted that this first film/book has to set up the entire seven
stories of the cycle, which it does brilliantly.

PROLOGUE
(part of SEQUENCE ONE, but a clear
prologue)

OPENING IMAGE: The owl. Mythic
symbol of wisdom, witch’s familiar.

Then we see the medieval-looking
wizard – and then witch - walking down a modern street. That wonderful visual
sets up the whole premise of the story, that these two worlds coexist.

VISUAL IMAGE SYSTEM begins right
away: owl, cat, witch and wizard garb; misty, spooky dark street; the contrast
and coexistence of Muggle world and magic world.

It’s a classic hero opening: the
baby left on the doorstep. It’s going to be an archetypal story, and a fairy
tale. Also this references Moses in the bulrushes: the swaddled child carried
out of harm’s way who grows up to be a leader of his people.

INTRODUCTION OF MENTORS: Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid. (RULE OF THREE).
This is another fairy tale element: the three fairy godmothers (and the third is
the bumbling comic relief). There’s a little Wizard of Oz reference to Glinda’s bubble when Hagrid descends from
the sky — then the twist of the motorcycle. But Hagrid is like Glinda to Harry,
and Hagrid is also carrying the baby as if he’s Harry’s mother, which he sort
of becomes.

The professors discuss why they’re
leaving the baby (hints of it, anyway) and that he will grow up to be
extraordinary (INTRO OF HERO, FORESHADOWING)

HERO’S WOUND, OR GHOST, OR BAGGAGE: It’s
as clear as the nose — I mean, the scar — on Harry’s face, from when Voldemort
killed his parents and tried to kill him. We will learn much more about it in
Sequence Two, but it’s introduced here in the beginning.

(Wow, and all that is set up in the
first four minutes! I swear, sometimes these analyses make me think I should
give up writing altogether and just go sell Avon or something.)

Finally, there’s a MATCH CUT from
the scar on the baby to the scar on eleven-year old Harry’s face (with title
card in between). A match cut is a visual trick that is a lot easier in film
(and used frequently), but often works on the page, even if it’s not as
high-impact. Works well for time passage, here.

> Okay, now watch the next scenes, and stop at the cut from the
pileup of invitations to the dark island (about 12 minutes in) to read my
notes.

SEQUENCE ONE (cont.)

The Hero is introduced in the
ORDINARY WORLD (Surrey, the Muggle World).

Right away, more classic fairy tale
elements: we see the poor stepchild (cousin) forced to live in a garret (under
the stairs) and do the cooking and cleaning for the horrible family. The two
boys, one good, one bad, the bad one constantly after the good one, is a
structural parallel to the adversarial relationship between Harry and
Voldemort. The themes of TWINNING and DUALITY are very strong throughout the
series.

The adoptive family is part of the
FORCES OF ANTAGONISM.

The family heads off to the Zoo for
precious Dudley’s birthday, and there’s a shot of the Muggle houses on the
block looking exactly the same, same cars parked exactly the same. Great visual
of the boring ORDINARY WORLD. There’s a
SET UP when Harry’s uncle warns him “No funny stuff.”

At the Zoo — we start to see the
HERO’S SPECIAL SKILLS. The scene SETS UP Harry’s capability of magic, although
he doesn’t understand it yet. He communes with the snake (SET UP that Harry is
a Parselmouth, a sort of Snake Whisperer, as we’ll learn in subsequent
books/movies), and then in a flash of
anger at Dudley, Harry inadvertently makes the glass of the terrarium
disappear, releasing the snake and imprisoning Dudley.

HERO’S DESIRE: he longs for his
family. This is very clear in the zoo scene, where Harry bonds with the captive
snake and shares that he doesn’t have a family, either. We’ll get more
indications of Harry’s desire very soon.

Back at the house, Harry receives THE
CALL TO ADVENTURE, or INCITING INCIDENT: the mysterious invitation, delivered
by owl. The Call To Adventure is very, very often an invitation, a phone call,
a knock on the door. Here there’s a fun twist on the REFUSAL OF THE CALL (per
Campbell and Vogler): the hero doesn’t refuse the call, but his uncle does —
over and over and over again, with malicious pleasure. Thus follows a
delightful comic sequence in which those owls and invitations just keep on
coming (because, you know, you can’t refuse the Call of Destiny!). This is
really its own sequence within a sequence, with the final exhilarating magical
bombardment of invitations. It’s comic, it builds in momentum to a breathtaking
rush, and it’s thematic. Just perfect storytelling, and a great example of how
to make the Call to Adventure a SETPIECE. And as so often happens after a sequence
climax, there’s a complete change of location to indicate the beginning of the
next sequence (even though we’re still technically in Sequence One. [12:18]

Now we see the family on a remote
island in a thunderstorm, still trying to refuse the call.

It’s Harry’s birthday – another
mythic and fairy tale element. Alone by the fire, he makes a wish (at midnight!
Magic time!) — and Hagrid breaks down the door.

Hagrid serves as a HERALD, here
(finally delivering the Call to Adventure in person) and also, obviously, he’s a mentor and supernatural ally. But do we
fully trust him?

Hagrid blusters past the opposition
of the uncle and aunt, Harry finally gets to open the invitation to Hogwart’s
School, and Hagrid tells Harry his own story: Harry is a Wizard by birth, and
his mother was a Witch (it’s a great device of making exposition dramatic and
compelling that the jealous aunt rants about her “perfect sister”) and we learn
of more of Harry’s GHOST and of the WOUND of losing his parents.

The instantly loving relationship
between Hagrid and Harry is another indicator of Harry’s powerful DESIRE for a
family and love. The birthday cake is a beautiful, and touching, touch. And
note that the cake is cracked in a perfect yin/yang symbol: another indication
of the THEME OF DUALITY.

SEQUENCE ONE CLIMAX: Harry follows
Hagrid out the door and off on his big adventure. And there’s a slight
hesitation on Harry’s part before he finally steps through that door — giving
the moment the import it deserves. His life will never be the same once he
walks through that door. FIRST CROSSING THE THRESHOLD. [18:25]

CUT TO LONDON

> Okay, back to the movie, and watch the LONDON sequence. There’s a lot going on here, so break wherever
you feel you need it to catch up on notes! The sequence ends at the train, 34
minutes into the movie.

Now begins the INTO THE SPECIAL
WORLD or CROSSING THE THRESHOLD sequence. This first Harry Potter is an example of mythic structure, where the journey
tends to be a very long and involved part of the first half of the story (see The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars, as well.) Harry enters the
Special World in seven distinct steps — I won’t even argue if you want to say
there are eight or nine steps! But
remember, seven is a magical number, and NUMEROLOGY is very important in the
whole series.

The scene change to London is the
first step.

The sequence starts in a TAVERN,
which is often a leaping off point of the mythic journey (remember the Cantina
scene in Star Wars? And the Nepalese
bar in Raiders of the Lost Ark?).
Harry meets Professor Quirrell, an innocuous chap who turns out to be a main
ANTAGONIST, but at this point this is a MYSTERY. Note how early we meet
Quirrell, though. And the irony that he is the “Defense Against the Dark Arts”
teacher.

INTO THE SPECIAL WORLD — Second
step: Diagon Alley. Great PASSAGEWAY as
Hagrid rearranges the bricks in a wall and the wall opens for Harry, who steps
through in a shot that’s a steal from — I mean, homage to — the famous shot of
Dorothy stepping through the door of her house into Oz.

Major SETPIECE sequence. More
introduction of the magical world that exists parallel to the Muggle world. It’s
also a GATHERING THE TOOLS SEQUENCE — Harry even has a list, and we see him:
get money from Gringotts Bank (wonderful setpiece within a setpiece, fairy tale
elements everywhere), learn he is very, very rich, lust after a Nimbus 2000
(FORESHADOWING and PLANT), receive an owl from Hagrid (GIFT FROM MAGICAL ALLY),
and most importantly, choose a wand.

There is so much VISUAL IMAGERY it
would take me days to recount. More owls, books, goblins, caverns, ingots,
vaults, apothecary shops.

There’s an INTRODUCTION OF MYSTERY
and PLANT here, too: the mysterious something Hagrid takes from Vault 713 (the
number is a play on a theme: lucky 7 and unlucky 13. Is it good or bad?). The
mysterious something is also a MACGUFFIN (the object everyone wants).

THE WAND SHOP SCENE [25 min.]

Note that Harry goes in alone for
this important scene. Lots of stuff going on here:

- Great
character intro with the sliding ladder for Olivander. (Think of all the character
introductions so far, each completely unique and wonderful — this is just a
terrific film to use to learn this art. Of course, the stellar cast doesn’t
hurt. (And can I please just have John Hurt? I don’t know what I’d do with him,
exactly, but I really, really want him.)

- More
backstory of Harry’s parents.

- The RULE
OF THREE is very much in evidence in the wand shop — the third wand is the
charm.

- Here is
our first indication of the Hero’s INNER NEED (as opposed to OUTER NEED): to
use his power for good and become a benevolent leader of the magic world. It is
set up strongly in the wand shop scene that Harry could go either way (could
that be any more Star Wars?): the
feather of his wand is from the same phoenix that supplied the feather for evil
Voldemort’s wand (PLANT). It’s also another example of the duality/twinning
theme.

- The scene
gives us a glimmer of an overall FEAR: that Harry could turn bad.

- And it
raises the CENTRAL QUESTION of the overall series: Will Harry use his power for
good or evil? (This theme is mirrored in
John Hurt’s portrayal of Olivander: we’re a little uneasy about this man, not
sure if he is good or bad. )

That evening (in the tavern) Hagrid
refers again to the mysterious something he took from Vault 713. (MYSTERY). We
may think here, and again later: “Is Hagrid good or bad?” (RED HERRING.)

Harry asks Hagrid about Voldemort —
he’s guessed that Voldemort killed his parents. Hagrid tells him the story of
Voldemort’s dark rebellion, and the battle between Voldemort and Harry’s parents.

And now we understand some of the
STAKES: there’s a powerful dark wizard out there who wants to kill Harry. (An
overall FEAR emerges for us now: we’re afraid Voldemort will come after Harry
again and kill him. We HOPE Harry will prove to be a strong enough wizard to
survive.). And I would say this scene spells out the CENTRAL QUESTION of Book
One and Film One: Will Voldemort come after Harry again, and will young Harry learn
enough magic to be able to survive another attack? [31:13]

INTO THE SPECIAL WORLD —Third step:
Platform 9 ¾

On the train platform, Hagrid
suddenly disappears on Harry, because this is a TEST of the young wizard – can
he figure out the mystery of Platform 9 ¾ and find his way into the Special World
by himself?

Harry proves to be smart: he hears
the word “Muggle” and takes it as the clue it is. But this is also important:
Harry is feeling lost, and he instinctively follows a woman who has red hair
like his mother and a large family (note in the background just before this: a red-haired
mother holding a small child on the platform, a visual reminder of Harry’s mother holding
Harry, as we have been seeing in flashback). These are subtle but powerful
indications of Harry’s DESIRE — or OUTER NEED — for a family. And he’s about to
get one in the Weasleys, especially Ron.

And Harry passing the test and
running through the pillar at Platform 9 ¾ is the SEQUENCE TWO CLIMAX. He
leaves the Muggle world altogether at that point (The Hogwarts Express is a
wonderful antique train!) and the TRANSITION TO SEQUENCE THREE is the shot of
the train going out of the Muggle World and into the forest. Big location
change – they’re really going out into the isolated country. Big, gorgeous,
sweeping vistas. (INTO THE SPECIAL WORLD
– fourth step.) [34 minutes]

SEQUENCE THREE

Inside the train, Ron Weasley comes
and asks if he can share Harry’s compartment. (This is the COLLECTING ALLIES or
GATHERING THE TEAM sequence — we’ll meet Hermione in a minute, too.)

Ron recognizes Harry (he’s famous)
and says “Wicked!” about Harry’s scar (Another thematic reference: “Is he good
or is he bad?”) Harry impulsively buys the whole cart full of candy to please
Ron, showing his generosity. The candy is magical, which is a lovely conceit by
Rowling: what would be the coolest for kids?

While Ron tries unsuccessfully to
work magic on his pathetic familiar, Scabbers, enter Hermione, a little
tornado. [36:29] There’s an instant set up of the love/hate relationship
between Ron and Hermione, and you can see a Star
Trek kind of dynamic starting between the three: Hermione is all superego,
like Spock, Ron is id and emotion, like Bones, and Harry is the ego, balancing
the messages of the two polarities, like Kirk. So now, the triumvirate is
complete, and they arrive at Hogwarts’ station.

INTO THE SPECIAL WORLD — fifth step

38:00 - Hagrid meets the train and
is the guide into the truly magical night world of Hogwart’s: this is a huge,
magical visual, the torchlit boat ride across to the castle of the school
(remember — make the INTO THE SPECIAL WORLD scenes count!). The filmmakers take
their time with this entrance to give us a complete sense of awe: we are
experiencing the school along with the kids. And it’s a visual reference to the
River Styx: the world we’re entering is not entirely human.

[39:00] McGonagall meets the
first-years on the stairs (another fabulous visual, and I’d say it’s the sixth
INTO THE SPECIAL WORLD STEP) and informs them that they will now be “sorted”
into the four houses of the school, which will be like their families (THEME: Harry’s
desire for family). Good and bad behavior by individual students will earn or
lose points for their houses (The good and bad theme again, and a big SUBPLOT:
an overall desire and competition to win the House Cup. Again, Rowling is just
a genius at balancing adult themes with kid themes in this series). Keeping the
kids on the stairs before letting them into the school builds anticipation as
well as creating another INTO THE SPECIAL WORLD step.

[40:00] And then we have the
INTRODUCTION OF SECONDARY OPPONENT: Draco Malfoy. I think every kid is familiar
with this sociopathic little prepster. Draco disparages Ron and warns Harry to
avoid taking up with the “wrong sort.” Harry replies coolly, “I think I can
tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks.” And we see Harry has made a new enemy.
Again, this is a kid-sized conflict to balance the much more complicated
overall conflict with Voldemort. (FORCES OF ANTAGONISM.)

INTO THE SPECIAL WORLD, step seven: The
students are led into the Great Hall, another dazzling set, with the ceiling
bewitched to look like the night sky, as know-it-all Hermione points out.

Dumbledore makes a speech, warning
the first years that the third floor is strictly forbidden (SET UP) as is the
Dark Forest (SET UP). We meet Fitch, the caretaker, and his cat. Fitch looks
monstrous but really is a protector of the students. (THEME of appearances
deceiving, who is good and who is bad?)

And then the climax of Sequence
Three: the Sorting Ceremony, in which a grumpy talking hat determines which
students belong in which houses. Hermione and Ron go to Griffindore (note the
“dore,” aligning the house with Dumbledore). Draco goes to Slytherin, and even
if we couldn’t tell by the name, Ron whispers to Harry that “There never was
witch or wizard gone bad that didn’t come out of Slytherin.”

Then it’s Harry’s turn, and the hat
has trouble: clearly Harry could go two ways (THEME). The hat is inclined to
send him to Slytherin: “You could be great, you know, and Slytherin can help
you get there.” Harry whispers over and over, “Not Slytherin” — it’s a big
suspense moment… and the hat acquiesces and sends him to Griffindore. This
scene is a miniature of the conflict in the series: Harry will have to make
choices about his path over and over. And also we see that Harry has control
over his fate. Dumbledore toasts Harry’s choice.

I’d say this is the true climax of
Act I, but the act goes on for a little while longer, first in celebration as a
huge feast appears (clearly appealing to kids!) and we meet the ghosts of
Hogwart’s.

[48:00] The prefect (Ron’s brother)
leads the kids back to Griffindore and we see the constantly moving staircases
(SET UP) and the living paintings.

[49:00] Harry cries, alone with his
owl, in the privacy of his room. A lonely hero moment that paints him a little
like a Messiah. (And note this technique for manipulating emotions: We are much
more apt to feel strong emotions such as grief, fear and loneliness when there
is an animal in the scene. Animals bring out our own vulnerability.)

If you're a romance writer, or have a strong love plot or subplot in your novel or script, then Writing Love: Screenwriting Tricks II is an expanded version of the first workbook with a special emphasis on love stories.

13 comments:

Wow. I've seen the film enough times (okay, too many) that I didn't need to watch it to follow right along with you. Most of the stuff I recognized once you pointed it out, but would never have thought of it on my own. But the family images, and the trick with vault 713...man, never in a million years would I have gotten that stuff.

Alex, thanks for the breakdown. Like Jake, I've seen HP few times, so I could follow. But it's really nice to see the theories you've been teaching put into practice. I think I'll try this with RAIDERS at some point.

It's amazing to watch a movie and know it's affecting you, but until you break down the symbols and the archetypes, you don't realize how the layers all add up to give it that punch.

I only have one question: the story of one character being pulled by both Good and Evil is an old one, but I'm wracking my brain for The Myth that serves as the cornerstone. It can't be Adam and Eve - that didn't turn out so well for Good. Is it Greek? Norse? Shakespeare? Where did we get the idea that, although man can be born with a leg in each world, he can chose his destiny?

I think you missed one bit of foreshadowing. At the zoo when Harry speaks to the snake, it foreshadows his ability to speak parseltongue which is thought to be an ability of those on the dark side of magic - another hint at the possibility of Harry being good and bad. It is also a plant for way later in the series.

You said you were going to do the same with Chinatown and RTS, but I was wondering if we could look at something darker, maybe break down a horror flick - how about a classic like Dracula or Frankenstein - or something more modern like The Grudge or The Unborn? Would it be wrong to suggest breaking down The Harrowing...?

This was a great post. I'm a screenwriter and I've been looking for books and blogs that use step-by-step examples (I don't know why they're so hard to find) and this is exactly what I've been looking for. Now, I am probably one of five people who hasn't seen any Harry Potter movies, but I really enjoyed the breakdown. I look forward to more.

Hey Jake. Yeah, I only saw the film when it first came out, so I was really surprised and pleased at how strong the family desire was throughout the movie, and how layered the imagery was. It was really fun to watch it and see how superbly done everything was (my God, setting up a series AND an individual story in 30 minutes? It's amazing.).

BT, I have to confess I haven't read past the first book or movie (I know, I'm a heretic) so I figured the snake talk was a set up for something (and Slytherin House, too - I mean, please, SLITHER?) but I didn't know how it plays out in later books.

But it's interesting, isn't it, how something that is important just FEELS important in a story?

As far as a darker example, I don't think I know any darker movie on the planet than CHINATOWN, but I will be happy to break down SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. There's not all that much to see in THE GRUDGE or the UNBORN, but you can learn volumes about any genre from the perfect structure of SILENCE.

I don't believe Harry states that desire in words, but certainly there is practically a whole sequence detailing this desire, in the second act, when Harry stumbles upon the magic mirror which reveals, what else, your heart's desire (as Dumbledore says specifically). What Harry sees in the mirror is himself with his parents.

Harry becomes addicted to the mirror and Dumbledore keeps finding him sitting for long hours in front of the mirror, and Dumbledore says something to the effect that you can't live in dreams to the exclusion of living your real life.

I would say you rarely get a more graphic depiction of outer desire and its pitfalls than that!